feeders

Sometimes I get asked about what camera I use. And the answer is simple, whatever I had available. Anything from point and shoot, iPhone, drone, GoPro and various trail cameras make the images I happily share on social media. Brands have little meaning to me. Whatever will I get me closest to my vision is what I will use. One piece of advice I have for newbies, avoid G.A.S. Or gear-acquisition-syndrome. It is a costly game and can become habit forming. As much as I would love to have big lenses, I can wait to save up and buy them later when I feel I really need them to step up my wildlife photography game.

Keep in mind a simple point-and-shoot camera still takes great pictures that can produce sizable prints. This little old Olympus camera is nothing special; waterproof, drop-proof, decent video and tough. No RAW, interchangeable lens, or other fancy features happen on this camera. Birds in flight pictures? Not likely. Nightscapes and star-trails? Nope. Take it every where I go in case something interesting happens? YES. That’s where the “one you have with you” photography cliche comes from. You always have be ready. Other fitting cliche? You will always miss the shots you didn’t take.

A simple point and shoot can produce great printable images.

You do not need a big arsenal of equipment to document nature. In fact, some of my favorite stuff from others naturalists is hand sketched. They make beautiful pictures and notes. One book I love on how to nature journal is Keeping a Nature Journal by Leslie/Roth. Never lose sight of why you are out enjoying nature observation.

I will leave you with a picture of a Stellar’s Jay taken with a trailcam from EBay. This camera is a close focus system. I have been looking for a long time and found this one “cheep cheep” on eBay.

Trail Cameras can be a great help for those shots you can’t be there for.